Apple Set to Stop Selling High-End Mac Pro Desktop in Europe - Report

Apple will stop selling its high-end Mac Pro desktop in the European Union next month since the product does not comply with certain EU regulations. While today’s Mac Pro can be considered as an outdated exotics, it will probably be missed by certain customers, who use it for professional applications.

Apple Mac Pro will be discontinued in Europe and nearby countries because of its incomplete compliance with the amendment 1 of regulation IEC 60950-1/second edition when it comes to level of protection of digital ports and safety of cooling fans, according to various media reports. Sales will end on March 1, 2013, when the regulations become mandatory. Still, since the Mac Pro is outdated and a new one is due late this year, the hiatus of sales can be considered as temporary.

“As of March 1, 2013, Apple will no longer sell Mac Pro in EU, EU candidate and EFTA countries because these systems are not compliant with [IEC 60950-1/SE] which becomes effective on this date. Apple resellers can continue to sell any remaining inventory of Mac Pro after March 1. Apple will take final orders for Mac Pro from resellers up until February 18th for shipment before March 1, 2013. Countries outside of the EU are not impacted and Mac Pro will continue to be available in those areas,” Apple’s statement reads.

Today’s Mac Pro is far from slow, but is also far from being up-to-date. It is based on either one quad-core Intel Xeon W3565 (3.20GHz) or two six-core Intel Xeon E5645 (2.40GHz) microprocessors and can feature up to AMD Radeon HD 5870 graphics card. Apple only provides Serial ATA-3Gb/s solid-state drive options and does not give a choice to install a native Blu-ray disc drive into its top-of-the-range offering. The current Mac Pro was introduced back in 2010, several generations of chips and technologies ago.

It is believed that in 2013 Apple will introduce a new Mac Pro line with faster processors, graphics cards and solid-state drives. Being based on the up-to-date components, the new Mac Pro will probably be compliant with IEC 60950-1/SE and therefore will be available in Europe and nearby countries.